My wife and I moved to Taipei with a certain amount of trepidation. The benefits were clear: she could take time off work to learn Chinese and all the materials that I would need to finish my dissertation were available. Yet it was a nerve-wracking prospect to spend nearly a year away from our dog, whom my…

The flight to Taipei was a 13 hour-long tunnel through about a million movies, and Taipei was a glimmer of signs in the dark. We've woken up in a gorgeous hotel room. Outside the window it's Times Square but with palm trees. Next, we drive south to Taichung. Maia: "I could get used to Taiwanese hospitality." We're in…